On sides of a vehicle, a pair of rockers which are skeleton members extend in a front-and-rear direction. A floor pan which forms a floor plate panel of a cabin is supported between the pair of the rockers. As exemplified in FIG. 8, on an outer end, in a width direction of the vehicle, of a floor pan 100, a flange 102 is formed. The flange 102 is joined to a side wall 112 (inner side wall) at an inner side, in the vehicle width direction, of a rocker 110.
For attaching a seat 120 in the cabin, a seat bracket 130 which is a support member is used. For example, JP 2009-126419 A discloses a structure in which the seat bracket 130 is joined across both the rocker 110 and the floor pan 100. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, a flange 132 provided at an outer end, in the vehicle width direction, of the seat bracket 130 is joined to the rocker 110. In addition, a flange 134 provided at an inner end, in the vehicle width direction, of the seat bracket 130 is joined to a floor plate portion 104 of the floor pan 100.
During traveling on an uneven surface such as a rough road, a load in an up-and-down direction is input from the seat to the seat bracket. During cornering, a load in a width direction (lateral direction) is input from the seat to the seat bracket.
FIG. 9 shows, as an example of the former (input of an up-and-down direction load), input of a load in a downward direction shown by a solid-white arrow to the seat bracket 130. By the seat bracket 130 being urged downward, a bent portion 106 of the flange 102 and a floor plate portion 104 is unfolded (becomes a bending center), and the floor pan 100 is deflected downward (sinks). Due to this deflection, the seat 120 is shaken upward and downward. In addition, a shearing load L100 is input to a joint point 140A of the flange 102 of the floor pan 100, which may result in detachment of the joint.
FIG. 10 shows, as an example of the latter (input of a width direction load), input of a load directed toward an inner side in the width direction, shown by a solid-white arrow, to the seat bracket 130. Because the seat bracket 130 is pulled toward the inner side in the width direction, the floor pan 100 is pulled toward the inner side in the width direction via a joint point 140B with the flange 134. Due to this pulling, the bent portion 106 of the floor pan 100 is unfolded (expanded), and the floor pan 100 is shifted toward the inner side in the width direction. Due to the shift, the seat 120 is shaken in the width direction. In addition, a pulling load L102 is input to the joint point 140A of the flange 102 of the floor pan 100, which may result in detachment of the joint.
An advantage of the present disclosure lies in provision of a vehicle side structure which can suppress shaking of the seat due to deformation of the floor pan and detachment of the joint point between the floor pan and the rocker to a larger degree as compared to the related art.